Dental impression tray



ug 26, 1947. 8.0. CHARTRAND v 2,426,388

DENTAL IMPREssIoN TRAY Filed June 6, 1944 I FIGI.

. I VEN OR. Bmwz/zmzd BY 7 W :WMV

alveolar ridge.

Patented Aug. 26, 1947 UNITED STfiA/T'S F z.DENIALJMPRESSIONTRAY I.),13rov'fiiing),v Ghartrand,v ;SrarLlJos ;.C alif. ,-Application=June 6, 1944; Serial No.=5318,899

' 3 *Claims. 1 vThl'S ierniionzreleies' i9 .i.1.npr9r1nnis.in. den tallequpmentand moreparticularly tolan adjust- A able trayfor useanimpressiod of an ,One ofthe reasons why dental plates used in supporting artificial teethfaresometimes not part`iularly satisfactory.as ,to .comfort or fit is befrvoausel the soft. ytissues of the .alveolar ridge `are notmaintainedin their normal shape during the making of thedental impression. Adistortion of lthe'tissues through theapplicati n of agreater pressure upon certain areas of. the :alveolar ridge thanuponother areas .When theimpression ma- 'terial'is brought into ontactwithj the said ridge puslually, results in thedental impression having a shape 'coi'responding to the Contour' of the"distorted tissues. Themdenture v onstructed from the 'dental impression thus made will not particularl;r fit the alveolar ridge when itsptissues assume their normal hape, therebycausing anv unseat-.

'in'g -of the'dnture, accompanied'yby considerable discomfiture. By pre-Shaping -the dental impression tray so it Vproperlyf fits vupon the alveolar ridge before the application of the colloidal or other suitable impression material, will avoid a Hdistoi'tio'nhf the tissue. When the impressionv is made'j" A;c lental impressionvthus. madefwill as- .sume the normal shape of the alveolar ridge, and [the plate subsequently takenther'efrom will cor- 'rec'tly land accurately fit withoutthe presence -of 'i bnor'i'qrial: i discomforting pressures on certain PIleaas'fof the ridge.

:Anpbject of my inventiondsxto provide an adiustablepdental impressio-ntray having a construction which is capable'of being shaped to cor- I rectly fit upon a person's .alveolar ridge, preparatory to,the making of an impression thereof.

l v notlherobject of my invention is to'proyide an adjustable impression tralhaving a material holding member which may be adjusted as to length to fit upon alveolar ridges of various sizes.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out hereinafter, indicated in the appended claims, or will be obvious to one skilled in the art upon an understanding of the present disclosure. For the purpose of this application I have elected to show herein certain forms and details of adjustable impression trays representative of my invention; it is to be understood, however, that the embodiments of my invention herein shown and described are for the purpose of illustration only, and that therefore they are not to be regarded as exhaustive of the variations of the invention, nor are they to be given an interpretation such as might Vhave the effect of limiting the claims, short of the true andmost. comprehensive scope of theinvention in the art.

: In the. accompanying drawings:

z Fig. 1 is abottomview of a dentalimpression tray embodying.l the.` principles1 of. my. .invention Fig.. 2 is a perspective.viewof .the same;

.' Fig. 3, isfan enlarged. sectio1i1al..view.taken-.on

the; line 37-3 of Pig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the same; Fig. 5 is a. plan view of amodified `embodiment of lmy-.invention Fig. 6 is aside view of'the same; .and

Fig'., 7 is arsectional view.-taken..onz.thez.line 1171 of Fig.. 5.

Referring .first to Figs. 1', 2-, 3-.and 4,.thereis shown an adjustabletray supporting frame.-comprising ahandle I., a rigid'armformed integrally with a handleand an .adjustable pivotedlarml 3.

. The handle and. the -arms .being `angularly.v vdis- Y-shaped. frame. by a. .screw'orother suitable means tothefhandle posed with. respectrto one .another `cons'titute a -The.arm 3 ispivotally secured il at apoint vadjacent.thejuncturetherewitlrof the rigdarm 2.

v.Securedtothe framebyscrews 4,. Sand 6-or other suitable .means is ...animpression tray 1 Vwhich isused. to. hold acolloidahmaterialwhen .thelatter is applied. upon .an alveolarridge for .the purposeofmakin'g adentalimpression. 1:The 30.-

vconstruction whichisformed .to substantially assume the lengthwise curvaturezof an vaverage alimpression trayembodies a somewhat U-shaped VVeola'r,'.,ridge.- Thevcentral, part. of Vthe-tray 1 is .secured byl thescrew 4 tothe. end. of .the .handle l .at a point-.where,thearms 2-...and 3 v.join the lsame, while'gtheendportions of; thesaid tray are adjustablysecured to--the said .-.by:the s1:ews 5 and 6.

arms .respective1y, -Tubularspacing elements 8 extending around the screws 4, 5 and 6 maintain the tray in spaced relation to the supporting frame. The end portions of the tray where the screws 5 and 6 extend therethrough are slotted as at 9 to permit the bending upwardly or downwardly of the said end portions. The tray is formed with curved side edges throughout its length which are so arranged as to provide a substantially U-shaped saddle which is adapted to extend over the alveolar ridge along the latter's .entire length. The tray is formed with a number of holes IO throughout its length which receive the collo-idal impression material and provide means for retaining the said. material in the tray after the impression is made by bringing it into engagement with the alveolar ridge. The impressiontray is made from a pliable inelastic material such as lead, tin, or a metallic composition, thus permitting the bending of the tray 1 or the relative adjustment of the end portions thereof to effect a proper fit upon an alveolar ridge preparatory to the making of an impression thereof. The ends of the tray may be bent upwardly or downwardly, or they may be adjusted relative to one another when the screws 4, '5 and 6 have been unscrewed sufiiciently to provide a loose engagement between the spacing elements 8 and the said tray. The slots 9 permit the ends of the tray to be bent upwardly or downwardly or to be moved toward or away from one another; lThe screw 4 being the pivotal means connecting :the arm 3 with the rigid part of the frame allows 'the said arm to be adjusted in a manner which 'will bring the end portions of the tray toward for away from one another. The tray, being made ;from a soft pliable material may be trimmed or =cut at its edges to bring about a proper fit with :respect to the alveolar ridge upon which it is being Lfitted. In practice the screws 4, and 6 are first loosened to permit the reshaping of the tray to bring about its substantial conformity to the shape and contour of the alveolar ridge of which .an impression is to be made. After this is done the screws are again tightened to make they frame rigid and to hold the reshaped tray in place thereon. The alginate or colloidal material usually employed in making impressions is placed in the channel of the tray, and the latter is placed in the manner of a saddle over the alveolar ridge. Some of the material passes into the holes |0, thereby provding means which will cause the impression to adhere to the tray when the latter is removed from the person's mouth.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, I have shown saddle-like extensions 20 adjustably secured to the ends of a rigidV tray 2|. The tray 2| is provided with a handle 22, and with a number of holes 23 for receiving the impression material as heretofore described. The particular type tray shown on the drawings is designed for use in making an impression of th'e lower alveolar ridge, there being a front concave portion 2|' adapted to receive several re- ;maining front teeth which may happen to still be present in the patient's mouth. My invention may be embodied in other types of trays if so desired. The saddle-like extensions 20 are slotted longitudinally as at 24, and screws 25 secured to the tray and engaged b-y nuts 26 extend through the slots and provide means for adjustably securing the said extensions to the tray. The extensions are also provided with a plurality of holes 20' for receiving the impression material. The extensions 20 are made from a pliable material such as lead, tin or metal composition, and each' may be extended or retracted with respect to the ends of the rigid tray 2| so as to provide adjustable means adapted to fit alveolar ridges of different lengths and shapes.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim 1. Ina dentalimpression tray, a substantially Y- shaped frame having a rigid handle and two relatively adjustable angularly arranged arms secured at adjacent ends to the handle, a substantially U- shaped channelled impression tray pivotally secured to the arms of the frame and having a shape corresponding generally to the contour of a person*s alveolar ridge, the said tray being made from a material permitting th'e tray to be reshaped and laterally adjusted in accordance with the adjustment of the arms of the frame while being -fitted inside a person's mouth and means fixedly securing said tray and arms together in desired shaped and adjusted conditions.

2. A dental impression tray comprising a pliable impression tray member having a material holding channel and being manually deformable over and to the shape of an alveolar ridge, a relatively rigid frame member pivotally connected to said trayV member and having angularly adjustable arms, pivotal means adjustably connecting the free ends of said arms to end portions of the tray member, and frictional looking means associated with said pivotal connecting means for iixedly securing said. tray and frame members in manually deformed conditions.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, wh'erein spacing means adjustably connect the tray and frame members for manual shaping of the tray.

BROWNING o. CHARTRAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

